How to Find Your Soul's Purpose with Janelle Alex

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Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family

As life long entrepreneurs, we’ve had great successes and dismal failure. We’ve gone from “riches” to “rags” and back again. My husband, Rob, and I have three sons in total. Two are grown and experiencing their own journeys while our 9-year-old, Boegley, travels with us. For the next 18 months or so, we’re traveling full-time as we work and live as digital nomads. Married almost 15 years, we’ve learned a lot about how to keep our marriage happy and healthy while setting a great example for our kids. Experiencing, exploring and appreciating the differences is a top priority for us and youngest son.

Tell me about your work

I’m a Transpersonal Business Coach and Shaman for Women who feel the call to make a real difference in the world, but don’t know how to start. I help them discover what they’re being called to do and create a doable plan that fits their lifestyle, so they can create personal freedom while doing work that feeds their soul. I incorporate dreamwork, ceremony, meditation, shamanic journeying, Secret Animal Powers and Soul Gap™ work into my coaching while blending it with practical techniques. I’m creating powerful women leaders with fierce passion and grace.

Can you share your “kitchen table” story?

Excerpt from my book, Soul Gap

The Kitchen Table

In early 2010, I was working for a social services organization interviewing and evaluating pregnant women and mother’s of infants to see if they were in need of parenting support. The vast majority of those families were impoverished or on the low-end of the spectrum when it came to income. Countless times I spoke with mothers who had been abused as children or adults, had used or been around drugs, had been in and out of jail (or the father’s had been), and so forth. It was important work and I was very good at it, but I didn’t enjoy it for many reasons.
I had taken a J-O-B in an attempt to save us from losing our family business and to utilize my expensive college degree – ha! Yet, my soul was calling – again. I knew there was more for me.

I found a postgraduate degree that fit the call of my soul and applied. Nerves kept me on edge for the next few weeks as I waited to hear back. When the call came asking me to schedule a time for an interview with the chairperson for the global master’s program the butterflies in my stomach burst forth from their chrysalises.

Normally, the chairperson would conduct the interview, then the candidate would receive an acceptance or denial in the next week or so. I was shocked the day of my phone interview with Dr. Henry Poon because after only 15 minutes he told me he had no questions or doubts; I was accepted into the Master of Transpersonal Psychology Global Program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University). Placing my phone back on my desk, I rushed outside and jumped into Rob’s arms. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with me as he’d likely never seen me that excited.

I’d created a plan. Applying to earn my master’s was the first step; getting accepted was the second. Check. Check.

Over the next few days my soul let me know going through that program would create drastic changes in me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew. This led me to wonder what would happen to my marriage. Being a leader and an entrepreneur had been a huge part of my life for 20 years. Being a mom and a wife had been a huge part of my life for the past couple of decades. Doing something specifically for me to expand my spiritual and personal growth had NOT been something I’d done during that time. Yet, I had answered the call and I got the message loud and clear through a deep inner knowing that I was on the cusp of a major shift.

The kitchen table conversation became one that I’ll never forget. One afternoon, I asked Rob to sit down at the table with me. Looking him straight in the eye I said, “This program is going to change me. I can feel it. I’m going to grow and move forward. I don’t want you to be left in the dust.” How that statement would be taken I really wasn’t sure, but I had put my plan for personal expansion into motion and I couldn’t pull back from it – I wouldn’t.

Lo and behold, a few weeks later, Rob surprised me with a DVD he’d ordered that helped explain what transpersonal psychology is. I hadn’t been knowledgable enough at the time to help him understand it. We watched the documentary together. His plan – to grow along with me. We neither one knew what that would look like, but we chose to add that to each of our individual plans.

During the course of my graduate studies, a deep curiosity began to blossom in my husband about his own spirituality, the transpersonal and metaphysics. What I hadn’t realized sitting at our kitchen table with him was that not only was I about to experience extraordinary shifts, but so was he. My plan for personal and spiritual growth had originally been focused on me, but the overwhelming sense of joy that filled my soul as Rob embraced his own soul’s mission was…well, it’s beyond words. It’s downright transpersonal 🙂

Without a plan a transpersonal graduate education would never have come into my awareness. Rob and I would most likely never have grown spiritually together. And, Rob’s metaphysical and transpersonal education would most likely not have come to fruition either. This leads me to be a huge advocate of having a plan! You can answer the call and hear your soul’s mission every day, but without a plan it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll actually succeed.

How did you find your calling to write and help others tell their stories?

I’ve always been a writer. It came easily to me, but when I realized how powerful storytelling can be I knew I needed to help others share their message through telling a story as well. Sometimes we can do that as non-fiction authors, but sharing a powerful message through a fictional story can often capture a reader’s attention better and help them not only remember it but share it with others. Going back to the 20+ years that I taught dance, I can say that I was teaching my women and girls to tell stories then, too. It was just done through movement and performance vs. words on a page.

You travel often, do you have a home base? Or are you and your family modern nomads?

Through August 2018, we’re living as nomads (or gypsies), but we anticipate that as of that late summer/fall we’ll be looking for a permanent home base again -island based- most likely in the Caribbean. We do house sitting/pet sitting as we travel right now as part of what we do and meeting so many amazing new people as well as seeing a variety of different places. Yet, we look forward to buying or building again in 2018/2019, so we have a spot to “go home” for 6-8 months at a time.

Since you live, travel and work with your family, how do you find time for yourself?

That kind be a tricky piece to it all. But we try to make sure that we usually house sit larger homes with lots of space. Occasionally, we have a gap and stay in an Airbnb or with family for a few days or a week or so. Again, we try to make sure we stay at a place that gives us space to get away from each other. Mind you, Rob and I have worked together since 2004. So, even though we worked individually, we’ve also been business partners almost as long as we’ve been married. In fact, we literally wrote the book on how to be Richer Together: Secrets to Working, Living and Loving Side-by-Side.

We both take time to work out (or practice yoga) individually, and when we’re staying some place for a longer period of time we get Boegley involved in something for kids in the area. Sometimes, we’re able to meet-up with other in the area (or other worldschoolers) with kids, so that is great for all of us as well.

What is your best tip for mothers who feel stuck in their lives?

First and foremost, know that YOU are enough. You don’t need to do what everyone else’s seems to do. To be the best mom, you have to take care of YOU first. Yes, it really is true – put your own oxygen mask on first. Take five to ten minutes every day just for you. Sit quietly, meditate, doing a hundred jumping jacks, drink a cup of coffee alone …whatever you feel like or are able to accomplish. But, this can help you be at your best and better able to give to those who demand your love and attention.

Who are your business or motherhood inspirations?

My biggest inspirations in most recent years are two books that changed my life – Wayne Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life and Parker J. Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak. However, if I were to consider two recent women that I find to be highly inspirational they would be Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. Very, very different women, but strong, powerful and fully capable of setting examples for others to learn and grow from.

What is your favorite business tool or app?

I use Scrivener for my writing, Keynote (Power Point if not on a Mac) with Quicktime screen recording for webinar recordings, and Google calendar is a life saver. For funnel creation, I prefer Clickfunnels.

Final thoughts?

Your dreams are waiting for YOU. No one can tell you what to do -not really. If you have a strong enough desire to make a real difference in the world, then nothing can stop you -money, time, naysayers, current lack of knowledge, fear- unless YOU allow it. If you feel like you’re running in place, like something in your life is missing, like you’re supposed to be doing something bigger and having more of an influence -even if you’re unsure what that is- then, it’s time to step up -even if that means finding or hiring a mentor or coach- and become a powerful woman leader with fierce passion and grace.